It was still dark as we all rolled out for the start.  We had close to 30 riders for a combined 200k/300k event.  I purposely lagged towards the back of the bunch to avoid getting caught up in a frenzied start.  It was a frosty morning and my legs were demanding a slow warm-up followed by a moderate pace.  Sure enough, the "warm-up" lasted about a quarter mile and the lead group blasted off at over 20mph.  Of course, everybody tried to hang onto their coattails and before I knew it, I was  riding solo, just a mile from the start.  For some reason, I didn't dwell on what this early shelling might mean for the rest of the day.  As I navigated the rolling hills, I became enamored with the way the large blob of blinking taillights in front of me slowly stretched first into an oval and then into a thin red line snaking over the hills. The undulating blinkies slowly faded into the dawn as the sun rose.  

I was encouraged to find a fairly large group just leaving the first control as I rolled up.  I didn't plan to spend much time in the first couple of controls, so I quickly got processed.  The group had about three quarters of mile on me as I got back on the road.  I stepped up the pace, hoping to quickly bridge up to the pack.  But "quick" didn't seem to be in my vocabulary this day.  Eventually, though, I got onto the back of the group just in time for the first major climb of the day.  Can you guess where I was relative to the group by the time I got to the top?  That's right, off the back again.  Fortunately,  I was able to use my considerable heft on the gentle downslope afterwards to reintegrate into the group without having to redline.   

The route turned due south out of Graham and into a noticeable headwind.  My guess is they were blowing about 10-15mph.  I felt lucky for two reasons: the winds weren't as fierce as the 20-25mph that was forecasted and I had big group to hide in.    The group wasn't very talkative as we headed south.  The steady wind gradually worked us over and one by one,  two by two, the bunch slowly eroded.  For some odd reason, I seemed to get stronger as the group got smaller and actually went up front for a good while.  

About 5 miles out of Caddo, the few of us left from the original group happened along a couple who were riding a tandem. Actually, they were on the side of the road with their tandem looking none too happy. I stopped to offer assistance and the captain, with a hangdog look, said there's nothing I could do, he had split his front tire beyond repair. True enough, he had managed to put about a 1/2 inch gash through the tread (more accurately, through the tire as there was very little tread left , but that's a different story). As he moaned about not being able to finish and the lack of tandem accommodations on the sag, I asked if a new tire might be of help. I reached into my trunk bag and pulled out a new tire (I've equipped my bike with a quick release seat post rack and 1700 cubic inch trunk bag in an effort to be self supporting). He was so grateful he offered to buy it on the spot. Being a good capitalist, with such an apparent demand, I quickly assessed the available supply.  Given that I had a monopoly, I didn't think a 400% profit was unreasonable so I asked $200 for the tire.  His hesitation made me suspect he was one of those yankee liberals I had read so much about.  I asked he would prefer to simply use the tire to complete the course and return it at the finish.  Sure enough, he enthusiasm at this suggestion revealed his true ideology.  He insisted he didn't need any help changing the tire. As I rode off, I thought I heard him say, "From each according to their ability, to each according to their need."  What the heck, I thought, even liberals deserve a break now and then.  Besides, my good deed for the day was done and the next control was just a few miles away.

Just as I was readying to leave the control, the tandem came rolling in and they wouldn't let me go without another round of left-wing, effusive gratitude. Once that was out of the way, we had a nice a little visit.  I probably spent a little too much time Caddo, because my legs felt pretty heavy when I left for the next control.  But the time was well spent in Caddo.  The only excitement on the way to Gordon came pretty soon after leaving Caddo.  The cue sheet warned of a vicious dog along one stretch of road.  As I neared the mile marker, I saw a house with a chain link fence around it right by the road.  That had to be where the dog lived, but no dog was in sight.  Feeling relieved (my legs were still feeling heavy), I heard what had to be the growl of Satan's hounds just as I started by the house.  The dog was flying at full speed from behind the house.  Panicked, I tried to get on top of a big gear and start sprinting, but my legs wouldn't respond.  It was like one of those nightmares where you helplessly watch your impending doom.  The fence gate was closed, but this dog wasn't slowing down.  It was evident he could easily jump it.  I was about even with the gate when the dog launched over the fence.  You know the ornamental scrollwork that often adorns the tops of gates?  Well, I want to take this opportunity to thank the fence manufacturer for making  it, the fence salesman for selling it, and the owners of the hellhound for buying it.  That dog smacked headfirst into that scrollwork and fell in a heap on the inside of the fence.  I think he left a major indentation on the gate like in the cartoons, but I'm not sure, I was laughing so hard I could barely see the road.  By comparison, the rest of the road to Gordon was uneventful. I arrived in the next control, snacked, refueled, and got back on the road.

Have you ever heard the old saying, "no good deed goes unpunished"? Well, not 5 miles out of Gordon, my rear sidewall blows out. I must have clipped a rock.  So here I am, without my spare. The sidewall gash looked like it could be booted and since that was my only option...  Unfortunately, the only "boot" material I had was a Cliff bar wrapper.  I gave it a try and crossed my fingers.  All was well for about 15 miles.  Another flat.  The boot had failed. I replace the tube and reboot. 2 miles later, flat again. Patch the tube, reboot. 3 miles later, flat again. The patch failed. Patch the other tube, reboot...and it holds until Lipan. I arrive at dark. I get a new tire out of sag, would have replaced the tube, but Frank didn't have any extended valve or valve extenders. Oh, when I say I replaced the tire, I mean that Frank did all the work. The greatest sag I've ever had. He then proceeded to follow me to the finish (as I was the last one on the course). I finished about 9:00pm. feeling great, easily had another 100k or so in me. 

All in all, a great day to be in the saddle. I don't really begrudge the late finish since it gave me a taste of the longer saddle times coming up and I got a chance to try my new lighting system. I've had 2.4 watt cateye micro and it really wasn't enough for bombing down some of the descents. I picked up a 6 watt headlamp (princeton tek) and that combo worked great.